1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shock absorbing apparatuses for vehicles, and, more particularly, to a shock absorbing apparatus for a vehicle, which is configured to generate a repulsive force against a collision in the event of a vehicle collision, thus absorbing shocks.
2. Description of Related Art
A bumper is provided on each of front and rear surfaces of a vehicle to protect internal electronic parts and mitigate shocks acting on a passenger in the event of a vehicle collision. The bumper is generally configured to be bent or easily torn when shocks occur, thus effectively absorbing the shocks.
Such a bumper includes a bumper frame that is coupled to a vehicle body to support the bumper, and a bumper case that is coupled to the bumper frame in such a way as to be exposed to the outside. The bumper can absorb a varying degree of shocks, depending on the material of the bumper frame and the bumper case.
However, if the bumper merely includes the bumper frame and the bumper case as described above, it is difficult to effectively absorb different levels of shocks. For example, if small shocks occur in a vehicle collision, the bumper frame and the bumper case should be easily deformed. However, if the bumper is designed to meet these requirements, the bumper cannot effectively absorb shocks and in addition may be excessively deformed in the case of large shocks.
Therefore, in order to effectively absorb shocks depending on various conditions of collision, an additional shock absorbing device is generally installed in the bumper. In order to solve the above problems, a related art discloses a configuration provided with a shock absorbing beam in which a multi-layered hollow portion is formed.
However, such a conventional configuration is problematic in that it cannot vary the shock absorbing degree depending on a shock level, but has only to absorb shocks when they exceed a predetermined level, so that it cannot effectively cope with various levels of shocks.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.